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Police bias for enforcing city ordinance 

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Our city has an ordinance stating cars cannot park within 50 feet from an intersection, however no one is aware of this ordinance and continually park closer than 50 feet throughout town although not blocking any cross walks. Do police have a responsibility to enforce city ordinances, or can they just decide to give out tickets on a whim? If they ignore the law daily and then decide to give a ticket to one person while others are not being ticketed, are they abusing their power or being negligent in enforcing the law? Also, by not ticketing aren’t they enabling illegal behavior and since people aren’t aware they are illegally parked are they setting people up to be ticketed if the officer decides to give a ticket?  

Asked in Traffic Law - 726 days ago

Tags: Police bias for enforcing city ordinance 

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lraymond
lraymond
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The police officers have a lot of discretion in how they choose to enforce these violations. Compare your situation with drivers speeding on the highway. If every person who was speeding was ticketed, well, you can imagine. The police officers pick and choose who they pull over and it is legal so long as they don't discriminate in some way. Ignorance of the law is no excuse so an individual cannot argue he did not know the speed limit, just as he will not be able to successfully argue that he did not know about the ordinance. Does a police officer enable illegal behavior by not stopping a car traveling 50 mph in a 40 mph zone? The answer is no. It is not feasible for police officers to issue a ticket for every violation.

Please note that I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. I recommend you contact an attorney in your state to help you with the matter.

Answered by LQ at May 27, 2010 09:29 PM

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LQ
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